While we realize some of you are rolling your eyes after reading the title, it can happen. It might seem like a ridiculous notion that moving can somehow be fun, but often it can be a challenge.
Making the process enjoyable can help to lower stress and anxiety and improve the experience for everyone involved. This is important because moving is stressful enough without being in a bad mood the entire time.
So, how do you make moving fun?
How to Create Fun While Moving
It’s really not that hard and doesn’t take much effort to insert a little fun into a moving day. And when you take the time to have a little fun, it’ll change your outlook on the entire process. While there are a lot of ways to make moving fun and help you maintain an upbeat mood, here are some of the best we’ve seen over the years.
We loved the idea of letting the kids decorate their boxes to get involved in the packing and moving process. Listening to music can always help work seem less like work, too, so turn the tunes up.
Don’t be afraid to dance a little while you’re packing boxes. We also liked the concept of making the first night in your new home memorable by making it a “camping” adventure or ordering takeout to complete the first night celebration. You might find a new favorite restaurant by doing that.
Strategies to use to make moving fun:
- Decorate Moving Boxes
- Create a Moving Playlist
- Explore the New Neighborhood
- First Night Celebration
- Throw a Moving Party
- Create Playful Competitions
- Create a Moving Day Theme
- Let the Kids Get Involved
Decorate Moving Boxes
Moving can be stressful for families with younger children, especially when trying to keep them entertained so they aren’t in the way.
One way to do that is to give them markers, stickers, colored tape, wrapping paper, fabric scraps, and other decorating materials to make the boxes works of art. This keeps them entertained and out of the way while making the day special for them, too.
Create a Moving Playlist
Why play music while moving? It’s a known fact that music can improve mood, motivation, focus, and satisfaction while helping to reduce fatigue. Create a playlist with music everyone can enjoy and help them get through the day.
How does music help make work easier?
- Provides Rhythm: With the beat of music, our bodies find a rhythm to make tedious tasks feel less so.
- Blocks out Distractions: When our minds focus on music, it helps to block out distractions that can detract from our progress with packing and moving.
- Improves Motivation: Music is a natural motivator, helping to improve mood to make it easier to complete complex tasks.
- Provides a Buffer to Stress: Believe it or not, music can act as a distraction that comes with a busy environment, creating a buffer against the anxiety and stress of moving.
- Enhances Mood: Music makes tasks seem more manageable and improves mood while performing tasks.
- Activates Reward Centers of the Brain: When your ears pick up on chord changes, it can activate the reward centers of the brain, making you want to continue the work.
Explore the New Neighborhood
Nothing helps ease the stress of moving to someplace new than visiting the area. Find points of interest, parks, restaurants, museums, and businesses you’d like to frequent. This can help alleviate the anxiety of the move and generate excitement about exploring a new area.
First Night Celebration
No matter the reason you are moving, it’s a big deal for everyone involved. Treat it like an adventure by making the first night a celebration. Plan a special meal or treat for the evening to mark the occasion.
Throw a Moving Party
Throwing a party is always a great way to celebrate important moments in our lives. Invite your friends, neighbors, and coworkers to a moving party. Celebrate the moment and take some time to say goodbye to the important people in your life. This is an excellent way for them to say goodbye, too.
Create Playful Competitions
This isn’t meant to be anything but a fun way to make the move smoother. Create challenges between family members for some friendly competition as the day progresses. If you don’t have kids, your adult friends may also find some competition fun.
Try these for fun:
- Memory Game: Before taping boxes shut, take a few items and put them in different boxes while the player watches, letting them guess where the items are to see how many they can get correct.
- Moving Day Scavenger Hunt: Hide moving day items like tape, markers, boxes, and labels, among others, and let the kids find them.
- Packing Challenge: See who can fold and pack the most towels in a specific amount of time.
- Box Decorating Challenge: Participants decorate boxes to see who can make the prettiest or coolest box.
These games serve a two-fold purpose. First, it helps keep the kids engaged and involved, letting them feel like an essential part of the moving process. The second is that it helps lower your stress and anxiety because the kids aren’t underfoot or constantly demanding attention.
Come Up With a Moving Day Theme
This can be fun by allowing everyone to dress up in silly costumes to make things lighthearted and fun while moving. Think of the pictures and the memories.
Let the Kids Get Involved
Kids also want to be involved in the moving process, which can be both good and bad. It’s important to assign them appropriate tasks to complete so they can take ownership of their part in the day.
Let them decorate their new rooms and unpack their decorated boxes. This makes them feel included and can also keep them entertained while you take care of other packing and unpacking.
How to Make Moving Alone a Fun Adventure
Moving by yourself means you’ll be doing the brunt of the planning and the moving, but it doesn’t mean it’ll be all gloom and doom. Whether you’re moving by choice or necessity, think of the move as an adventure, a way to reinvent yourself, a shift to a new you. Moving is a transition, so embrace the journey.
Ways to make the move a fun adventure:
- Research the New Location: Don’t just seek out places to shop and eat, but seek out contacts through social media to connect with others already in the area.
- Update Your Contacts: While moving might feel like you’re leaving everyone behind, it’s simply untrue. With travel options and Internet connectivity, you can maintain relationships with your old friends, inviting them to your new home and visiting them whenever possible.
- Make a Sanctuary: After moving in, make the space yours by choosing flooring, wall hangings, furnishings, and décor that express your personality by indulging your inner interior decorator.
- Go Out and Meet People: While it might be easy to use your new home as an excuse not to go out, it’s important to seek out new experiences, attractions, and people to build your network in your new neighborhood.
- Be Kind to Yourself: Moving to a new place will take time to adjust, so give yourself some grace and take on the latest adventure day by day.
Stay Positive
There’s no doubt that moving is stressful. When you uproot your entire life and move to someplace new, there is bound to be stress and anxiety.
That is why you must do your best to maintain a positive attitude. It can be infectious and turn the dread of the moving process into the adventure that it is.
Don’t let the emotions of leaving a beloved home infect the day. Do your best to laugh, sing, and joke throughout the day. Transform the experience into one you’ll cherish.
Sticking to the Plan
While it might go without saying, sticking to the plan is essential for a successful move. This will help reduce stress and ensure the move goes as smoothly as possible. Do your best not to get frustrated if things deviate from the plan.
It’s also important to leave time for fun. Take breaks and allow everyone involved to fully embrace the adventure of the move. This allows your body to recover physically and your mind to recover mentally. When you have fun, work seems less burdensome, and the move remains a positive experience.
Stay relaxed and take moments to drink and eat. Staying hydrated helps your mind to stay focused and your body able to continue to labor. Give your body what it needs to perform at a high level.
Also, don’t forget to take a moment to say goodbye to your home. Think of all the good times you’ve had and what you’ll miss about it. Take pictures to capture that time of your life so you can look at them later and appreciate your journey.
Lowcountry homeowners call us to move them to their new homes because we are trustworthy and professional. Smooth Move can handle all of your moving needs. Reach out to us today and discover why we are one of the leading moving companies in the Lowcountry.